The present invention relates generally to information routing. More particularly, the invention relates to information routing in ad hoc network environments where nodes are moving quickly and the network topology is changing quickly, making information transfer during roaming difficult.
Whereas much of the internet traffic today is supported by information routers deployed at fixed locations, there is growing interest in mobile networks where information must be routed among nodes that are mobile, thus constantly changing the network topology. The 802.11 wireless protocol represents one popular mechanism by which such ad hoc networks are created. However, current 802.11 protocols (e.g., 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and the like) cannot support fast roaming and topology change. Where roaming speeds exceed much over 90 kilometers per hour, the 802.11 protocols have not proven very reliable. While access points can be configured to support bridging and relay functions, such access points are not of much help in environments where they need to move from place to place frequently.
In an effort to support node mobility, a set of routing protocols known as mobile ad hoc network (MANET) was developed. However, communication errors caused by frequent changing of routing paths and fading channels has limited the bandwidth and reliability of the MANET protocols. Privacy and security issues also arise. In an open MANET where nodes participate in routing IP packets, protecting MANET nodes from denial of service attack (DOS) and eavesdropping are important concerns. As more fully explained herein, we believe a strong peer-to-peer level communication is needed.